In focus

The Director of Student Services Oliver Keels and the Student Association organized the first ‘Poetry Slam' at AUIS on Thursday, January 22. The poetry reading competition invited participants to recite their favorite poem in front of a student audience. Students were encouraged to read their poetry by performing the piece in such a way that best communicated its meaning. The five students who took part in the event came from both the Academic Preparatory Program (APP) and the Undergraduate Program.

AUIS students and aspiring actors, Leah Omar Farooq and Beyan Tahir, have been busy rehearsing these last few weeks for a theatrical performance in Sharjah, UAE, on 25-26 January. Leah and Beyan are part of a troupe of 35 talented youth selected from all across the Middle East for an international theatrical training program called Home Grown, run by the Kevin Spacey Foundation and the Middle East Theatre Academy (META). Oscar Award winner Kevin Spacey has also been personally training the participants during the program. Only two participants were selected from Iraq, and they both happen to be from AUIS! We wish them all the best for their upcoming performance! You can see the rehearsal and workshop photos on META's facebook page.

Seniors graduating this December took their pledge to uphold the values of the AUIS Alumni Association in a brief ceremony held at the university. Families and friends also attended Seniors Day, the day where the most recent group of AUIS graduates are formally inducted into the alumni association. The degrees will formally be conferred upon these graduates in 2015 at the official commencement ceremony. Dr. Esther Mulnix, acting president of AUIS, spoke to the students, congratulating them on their graduation, and welcoming them to the alumni association.

News

Sulaimani, Iraq – February 24, 2015 – The Professional Development Institute (PDI) at the American University of Iraq, Sulaimani (AUIS) announces that it has partnered with Hiwa Hospital to provide English language courses as part of the hospital’s long term vision to improve patient care and provide employees the opportunity to gain important language skills for both their personal and professional lives.

Tobin Hartnell, an AUIS professor and archeologist with almost two decades experience in the field, uses the latest technology and satellite imagery to discover the ancient cities of Iraqi Kurdistan. Dr. Hartnell points out that present day Iraq - known in classical antiquity as Mesopotamia - is home to the oldest civilizations in the world, with a cultural history of over 10,000 years.

Sulaimani, Iraq – February 8, 2015 – The Professional Development Institute (PDI) at the American University of Iraq, Sulaimani (AUIS) today announces that the Project Management Institute (PMI), the world’s largest project management member association, has named AUIS/PDI as the first Registered Education Provider (R.E.P.) in Iraq.

Dr. Choman Hardi is an assistant professor of English literature at the American University of Iraq, Sulaimani (AUIS). She is a celebrated poet, as well as a writer, translator, and a women’s rights activist.

The novelist Mahmoud Saeed is the first writer-in residence at the American University of Iraq, Sulaimani (AUIS) where he teaches calligraphy. “A friend arranged everything and made it a surprise for me,” says Saeed when asked about his decision to return to Iraq and teach at AUIS. He refers to his friend Jackie Spinner – journalist and former teacher at AUIS - whom he met in Chicago.

Esther Mulnix arrived in Sulaimani in 2014 to join AUIS as the new vice president for academic affairs and professor of social sciences. She is currently also the Acting President of the university. In addition to overseeing the academic programs for the University, Mulnix will also be leading the University’s efforts to acquire accreditation in the United States.